


it's nice to have a friend

by sun_summoning



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Ladynoir July 2020
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:26:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 4,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25009951
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sun_summoning/pseuds/sun_summoning
Summary: LadyNoir July 2020 prompts.#1 The Wall Between Us - With a twitch of his leg, the entire fort comes collapsing down, a blanket separating him from his lady.#2 Stargazing - Ladybug uses Chat Noir's pick-up lines against him.#3 In Denial - Chat Noir needs some reassurance.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 22
Kudos: 59





	1. The Wall Between Us

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug and Chat Noir build a fort.

With a twitch of his leg, the entire fort comes collapsing down, a blanket separating him from his lady. After a yelp, she starts to laugh. Fortunately, the sheet acts a wall between them, preventing her from seeing the embarrassed flush on his cheeks as he mumbles his apologies. He makes his way out of the carnage and finds her grinning down at him, wrapped up in what used to be the northern wall of their blanket fort.

“Sorry,” he says sheepishly.

Ladybug stands. She offers him a hand and he takes it so he may stand too. She begins gathering the blankets and putting aside with the pillows.

Chat Noir struggles to hide his disappointment. Arriving to their meeting spot to find she made this little hideaway had to be the best thing that happened to him all month and he didn’t want this to end. It was just his luck that he had to ruin it.

“Okay, let’s try this again.”

Ladybug stands with her hands on her hips, regarding the pillows and blankets and other random parts of the rooftop with the same determination she shows in battle.

“Ladybug?”

She glances at him and then nods her head to the blanket by his feet. “Help me out this time, would you?” 

Chat Noir picks it up and she guides him on where to drape it. They build a new hideaway for themselves, this time together.


	2. Stargazing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir is easily flustered.

When he asks what she’s up to, Ladybug pokes his nose, grins, and explains, “Stargazing.”

She’s awfully affectionate tonight, cuddling close to him on their chosen rooftop as he looks at the sky, too lit up by the city for him to actually see anything. He takes in the wonder that is the world while Ladybug just focuses on him. He can’t help but flush a fraction at all of her flirtations, which only turns her grin wolfish.

“Aw, is the kitty getting flustered?”

As much as Chat Noir loves when Ladybug gets like this, the reality is sometimes he just can’t handle it and he turns into mush. He mostly expects nothing, so when she _is_ playful, he’s generally at a loss for words.

“I think he is.”

Ladybug waggles her eyebrows and Chat Noir rolls away from her.

“Now he’s mad that I’m teasing him.”

“ _He_ is right here.”

“And now he’s talking in third-person.”

Chat Noir sticks his tongue out at her from over his shoulder. She laughs and comes closer. Her hand rests tentatively on his side, and when Chat Noir’s own fingers seek hers out, she wraps herself around him.

“He also likes being the little spoon,” Ladybug continues to narrate. “He’s never made a secret of that, of course.”

Having enough of this, Chat Noir turns over again so he’s facing her. Their faces are inches apart and he’s focusing so hard that he goes cross-eyed for a moment.

“Are you annoyed that I used your cheesy stargazing line so now you have to think of a different one?” Ladybug whispers.

“ _Yes_.” Chat Noir rubs his nose against hers in a little eskimo kiss that makes her laugh. “ _So_ annoyed, you little thief.”

“Thief, huh?” Ladybug smirks. “Hm, I forgot the exact words, but something, something, stole your heart.”

“Stop using my lines!”


	3. In Denial

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir is insecure.

Somehow Chat Noir knowing about her feelings is even worse. And it’s not that he’s smug about it. Oh no. At this point she’d prefer that. Rather, he’s incredibly insecure, and she works very hard to be supportive and nice about it because Ladybug knows for a fact that his father is an Asshole, therefore her kitty probably has a few issues truly believing that not only is he loved, but that he deserves that love.

“You’re sure you like me though, right?”

Ladybug schools her features because rolling her eyes would be mean and pulling at her hair would probably make him sad.

“I’m sure,” she tells him.

“Because, you know, you never really resolved anything with that Mystery Boy—”

“I’m _sure_.”

“But—"

“I love you, Chat Noir. I love your dumb face and your terrible pick-up lines.”

“Wow.”

“You’re my best friend.” Ladybug shakes her head. “You’re my partner. I can’t even fathom another person being as significant in my life as you. You’re the only person I trust to always have my back. You protect me physically, and heck, emotionally too. You make me laugh. You share my burdens. You’re my _partner_. I _love_ you. Stop questioning it or thinking I can find someone better or that it will end because it’s _always_ going to be _you_.”

Her fervent declaration finished, Chat Noir shuts his mouth and processes her words. He nods slowly, as if actually accepting her affection, and then he smiles softly. It reaches his eyes, and Ladybug grins back, knowing he knows how much she loves him.

Then the annoying cat smirks.

“Gosh, Bugaboo. Keep it in your pants, would you?” He laughs as he waves a hand. “You’re so embarrassing.” 


	4. Disguises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chat Noir convinces Ladybug to hangout without their transformations. Their disguises aren't very good.

One day Chat Noir actually convinces Ladybug to hangout with him without their superhero costumes. It’s going to be a beautiful spring day come Saturday, so why not spend it with a stroll along the Seine and a picnic in the park? Naturally, she put up a fight because that would be a “terrible idea” that would surely have “consequences”, but then he used the kitten eyes she claimed had absolutely no effect on her, and so she gave in.

After a good hour spent trying to style his hair like Chat Noir’s, he heads to their designated meeting spot sans the roses he wanted to bring along. According to Plagg, they would just be an annoying thing to carry around. He’s early, looking around like an overeager puppy searching for his owner, but that doesn’t last too long. There’s a tap on his shoulder, and when he turns around, he sees his lady with her hair down and a pair of big, black sunglasses that cover the usual half of her face. 

Cliche as it is, she takes his breath away. He has to tell his body to inhale and then exhale a few times before the cycle starts anew. All the while, he takes in how her dark hair brushes along freckled shoulders. 

He just stares at her, knowing he probably looks like an idiot, but how can he not? He takes in pink lips he’s waxed poetic about and the cutest button nose. And now that he can see more of the bridge, he can really see those--

“Freckles,” he says dumbly.

She purses her lips, immediately looking to the side. When he realizes that he spoke, he feels his ears burning from embarrassment. 

“You already know I have freckles,” she points out.

“I do!” he smiles, taking in how they dot her nose and cheeks. He tries to think of something smart to say, something that isn’t just “your freckles are adorable” or “all of you is adorable” or “god I love you so much”. Instead he settles with, “I’ve just never....seen...all of them?”

Ladybug shrugs. Then she grins. “You, on the other hand, look like a walking Gabriel Agreste ad.”

He tries not to wince. When he was planning his outfit earlier, it really hit him that all he owned were things made by his father.

“So what’s on the agenda today, kitty?”

“Um.” Adrien glances at the water. “A stroll?”

“That’s it?”

Adrien begins to flounder as her words echo in his head. Yeah. Wait. Really? he asks himself. That’s it? He finally has Ladybug hanging out with him on the friendly hangout that could _maybe_ score him a date in the future, and he had nothing planned? 

“Picnic,” he blurts out. “And a picnic.” She nods, pleased, and Adrien grins. He offers her his arm and judging by the twitch of her lips, she’s rolling her eyes behind those oversized sunglasses. “Shall we, my lady?”

She takes his arm and leans into him. They’ve never had any issues invading each other’s personal space, but somehow this is different. For one, Adrien can feel her body heat. Supersuits had a way of carefully regulating temperature, after all. They walk and they chat but his heart isn’t really in it considering it’s lodged in his throat and he’s more or less floundering over the fact that he’s _actually_ hanging out with Ladybug in _real life_ \-- 

Adrien frowns when Ladybug squeezes his arm and then flinches when a camera flashes at his side. 

Though not transformed, in his head, he’s Chat Noir right now. His sunglasses do well enough to block the bright light when a second photo is taken. 

Adrien vaguely recognizes the photographer. They’re all annoying, but this one is only slightly less invasive. Or, at least, that’s what he thought.

The photographer just grins. “Nice to see you in actual clothes, Pyjama Girl. Until next time, Agreste.”

If Ladybug’s grip on him had already been tight, she’s definitely cutting off his circulation now. He hears her inhale sharply as her fingers dig into his arm. Before he can process what’s going on, Ladybug is leading him away from a group of teenage girls who are taking out their phones.

Adrien blinks. Wait a second. Oh god. He struggles to breathe as he realizes that he was _recognized_.

“Oh no--”

“Come on,” Ladybug hisses, turning a corner. 

The only reason she doesn’t start running is because that would be more suspicious. And if she heard what the photographer called him -- how could she _not_? -- then she knows who he is and just what kinds of hordes liked to follow him around when he didn’t have his bodyguard scaring them away. 

She knows, Adrien reels. She _knows_. 

Ladybug knows and oh gosh, that photographer got a picture of them together. He’d need a copy of that. And gosh, he probably thought they were dating. This would be the whole thing with Marinette all over again. This would--

Wait a second.

Adrien stops abruptly, separating from Ladybug when she moves forward. She stops when they lose contact, and despite those big, black sunglasses, he knows she’s staring at him with her Crisis Mode eyes. 

“Adrien--”

“He called you Pyjama Girl.” Dots connect to dots and soon Adrien is gawking at her, arms flailing and mouth moving with no sound coming out. “I--you--you’re--” His shoulders rise as he bites his lip and tilts his head a fraction. He smiles, eyes soft, and he can’t help the way his hands come up to his chest. He’s almost certain he can hear Plagg scoffing. “ _Marinette_ ,” he whispers reverently. He looks like a lovesick idiot, he has no doubt. He plucks off his sunglasses because they hardly have a point anymore. “Marinette!”

His lady has her arms crossed as she looks up at the sky. “I’m an idiot. I can’t believe I let this happen.”

“Marinette!”

“Sunglasses are _not_ a disguise, dammit.”

“ _Marinette_!” He can’t help himself when he pulls her into a hug. He lifts her, making her yelp, and proceeds to twirl her around because this is the best day of his _life_. When he sets her down, she removes her own sunglasses and watches him with an entirely unmasked face.

God, she’s so beautiful.

Adrien has always known, objectively speaking, that Marinette is gorgeous. And oh man, when she wore her hair down? Adrien swallows as he transitions from happy lovesick mess to anxious lovesick mess. He takes in the nervousness in her eyes that he needs to quell immediately, the soft smile that tells him she’s as happy about this as he is, and just more--

“Freckles,” he whispers.

Marinette rolls her eyes the way Ladybug does. The way Marinette does. “Again?”

“I can see new ones now without the mask!”

“You see my freckles all the time...Adrien.”

“That’s true. Because we go to school together. And you sit behind me.” Then he giggles. “You called me _Adrien_.”

“It’s your name.”

“It _is_!” He’s gushing and he knows it. “Oh man, how are you staying so calm about all this?”

That makes her huff in amusement. “I was definitely freaking out when we were running away earlier.”

“Of course you were!” Adrien laughs because of _course_ Marinette’s version of freaking out, much like Ladybug’s, was keeping it cool while strategizing an escape route and then making everything okay again. He pulls her into another hug and rubs his cheek against the top of her head. “Bugaboo!”

“No! No Bugaboo!”

She hugs him back though, so he holds her tighter and coos “Bugaboo” once more.


	5. Banter

When people look up and see Ladybug and Chat Noir perched high and watching over their city, they often assume the superhero pair is carefully keeping tabs over any wrongdoing. The two talk to each other, likely strategizing how to best protect Paris, but the reality is that they’re just being silly:

“Do you think we need new hero names?”

“What?”

“You know. ‘Ladybug.’ ‘Chat Noir.’ We’re pretty, like, basic, in comparison to everyone else.”

“I don’t care about everyone else.”

“There’s no shame in rebranding.”

“But I don’t care about everyone else.”

“Also, I just realized, we didn’t even try that hard when we switched kwami. We just sound like each other’s spouses or something. Mister Bug? Lady Noire?”

“Are you done?”

“Nope. Who would you be? Lady Luck? Miss Fortune? Wait. No. That sounds like an akuma. Hm.”

“Chat Noir.”

“The Guardian? No, that’s too revealing. Would be pretty cool though—wait. Should I call you Master now?”

“Excuse me?”

“You know, because now you’re Master Ladybug instead of us having Master Fu.”

“Okay. Honestly, I don’t hate that—”

“Nice.”

“—but I’m worried it might make me aware of some kink I have, so no, please don’t.”

“ _Nice_.”

“Shut up.”

“Okay, but for real. What should our new names be?”

“We’re not changing our names!”

“But—”

“I like being just Ladybug. And I like you as Chat Noir, too.”

“Oh.”

“Okay?”

“Okay.”


	6. Rose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug keeps all of Chat Noir's presents.

Chat Noir hates her rule that he can know Ladybug’s identity but she doesn’t want to know his. She revealed herself to him some time ago and explained it was only for emergency purposes, in case he ever needed her for Plagg the way she needed Master Fu for Tikki. When he tried to do the same, she vehemently protested.

He does, however, like that he can now hang out with her as Marinette.

It’s nice, being able to know his lady entirely. He can see the little mementos that show her interest, the space she grew up in, the pictures of people that she loves. He’s a bit nosy, uses lines about cats and curiosity at least twice per visit, but Marinette never really tells him off for going through all her little trinkets.

And, he’s learned, she’s awfully good at protecting things that she actually _does_ want to hide. He nearly lost a hand when looking for her diary.

Today he notices a shadow box on her bookshelf. In it is a single rose. Its petals are dried but still daintily curled. It no longer has its deep red colour, but it’s beautiful all the same.

He knows, logically, this can be any old rose. Maybe she even bought the shadow box like this. But somewhere in his heart, he knows better.

His words come out in a stilted whisper when he asks, “Is…is this—”

“Of course.” Marinette is by his side now, holding the box as delicately as she might have been holding the flower. She bites her lip and without the mask, he can see the way a blush overtakes her cheeks. “It was special to me.”

“Oh.” Chat Noir swallows thickly, marveling at the fact that she valued his gift so much that she bothered to preserve it. He shrugs, unsure. “I guess I just…never expected you to keep it?”

Marinette frowns. “I keep everything you give me.”

After a pause, she moves past him and digs into the bottom drawer of her desk. She takes out some fabric and paper and other pieces of clutter that apparently only sit there to hide a simple black box. She takes it out slowly, and after a small glance at him, she smiles and rests it on the table. She lifts the lid, and inside Chat Noir sees a familiar set of earrings he once carelessly bought her, followed by the bracelet he got instead when he realized she could never use the earrings. There’s a ticket stub from the movie they snuck into once, and a handful of photobooth pictures they took at the metro station.

“I call it The Litterbox,” Marinette says with a little smirk. She takes out a velvet pouch that contains one of the more luxurious gifts he’d given her over the course of their friendship.

“I always wondered if you wore my presents,” he muses. Then he sighs. “I guess not.”

“Of course not.”

Marinette takes out another bejeweled necklace, this one decorated with rubies. She tries to suppress a smile as she puts it on and marvels at herself in the mirror. Chat Noir thinks she looks stunning, although maybe a bit silly considering her current outfit. Marinette seems to agree based on the smugness on her face.

“If you _must_ know, I wear them in my room when I’m playing video games or designing because, well, I can’t quite wear them anywhere else. Can you imagine if I showed up to school like this?” Marinette laughs. “Everyone would assume I have some secret boyfriend that likes to spoil me.”

Chat Noir grins as pulls out the dazzling earrings he bought long ago. She can’t wear them, so he stands behind her and holds them by her ears so they can pretend.

“I mean you _could_ have a secret boyfriend that likes to spoil you,” he purrs into her ear. “Then you’d get all the pretty things you could ever want.”

Marinette rolls her eyes. “Are you trying to bribe me?”

“I would never.”

“God, you’re a rich boy, aren’t you?”

“Per _your_ rules, I can neither confirm nor deny that.”

Marinette shakes her head. “You’re ridiculous,” she says, dismissing his flirting the way she always does when he knows she genuinely wants to continue.

She removes the necklace and he puts the earrings back too. Soon, The Litterbox is hidden away again. But the rose stays on display on her bookshelf.

“I like…” Marinette stares down at her lap where her hands are busy bunching up her shirt. Her cheeks are dusted with pink when she looks up at him again and bites her lip. “I like, um, when you get me flowers.” She shrugs. “Those don’t seem too out of place so I can keep them out. And,” she shrugs again, “I like looking at them and knowing, you know, that they’re from you.”

Chat Noir blinks, taken aback by the admission. Little honest moments like these always shut his encyclopedia of terrible pick-up lines and puns. He swallows as he nods. “O—okay,” he replies smoothly.

“Not that I’m telling you to buy me flowers, of course.”

Chat Noir grins. “Just let me know when you run out of vases, Bugaboo.”


	7. Interviews

“What’s your favourite colour?”

Chat Noir leans back with his weight on his hands, swinging his legs back and forth over the edge of the tower. He’s a picture of nonchalance, but there’s a tension in his shoulders that tells her he knows he’s toeing a line that he’s been told many times to stay away from.

However, if she’s being honest, she’s been wavering on the secret identities between the two of them for a while now. For one, who was going to take away their miraculous? For another, how would that benefit anyone? So if Chat Noir wants to learn a bit more about her, then fine. She wants to know a lot more about him too. And she’s sure there are plenty of details they can share without actually being too telling.

“Pink,” Ladybug slowly replies, deciding to play this game.

“Oh.” He blinks like he didn’t expect an answer.

“And you?”

He blinks again because he definitely didn’t expect a question in return.

“Uh.” Chat Noir clears his throat to buy time. “I’m not sure.”

“You’re not sure?”

His nose wrinkles as he thinks hard. “I guess…I don’t know. Things have always just been picked for me?”

Ladybug doesn’t mention how sad that sounds. “Well, you get to pick now.” She grins encouragingly, making him blush.

“I like pink too,” he admits. “And I like green. And blue.”

She giggles. “That’s three colours, kitty.”

“I’ll narrow it down later.”

They go quiet for a moment. Chat Noir isn’t going to ask anything else. He’s going to take this answer and be grateful he got it, but Ladybug wants to keep going. There’s so much she wants to know about her partner, so she continues, “What’s your favourite cheese?”

The look he gives her is positively scathing. “I’m lactose intolerant.”

“Really?”

“Yup. I mean, I don’t always take it seriously because, well, how can I with things like gelato in existence?” He sighs wistfully. “Cheese though – ugh. I never hated cheese before, but Plagg has just ruined it for me.”

“Tikki likes cookies,” she shares. She’s not sure if she’s ever told him that, but it’s definitely something he should know.

“ _Seriously_?” Chat Noir groans. “I feel so cheated.”

Ladybug pats his shoulder. She can’t imagine having to constantly carry around cheese for her kwami.

“What’s your favourite dessert?” Chat Noir asks next.

“That’s a tricky one. Narrow it down to, like, favourite cake or something.”

“Fine. What’s your favourite cake?”

“I do love a classic vanilla sponge.”

“Wow. So basic.”

“Hey, quality vanilla is amazing.”

“Uh huh.”

Ladybug shoves his shoulder with hers so he does the same back. “I’m going to make you eat my vanilla cake,” she threatens. “And you’re going to like it.”

Chat Noir just laughs at her poor attempt at intimidation. “You promise?”

“You bet.” Ladybug considers the ingredients she’ll need to swipe from the bakery for this. “And what else?”

“Hm?”

“What else should I make for you?” Ladybug purses her lips. “What other food do you like?”

“Oh. Um.” Chat Noir frowns down at his lap like he’s never considered this before. She can only imagine that much like his favourite colour, he’s never really had a chance to choose.

“Do you like quiche?” she suggests.

He lights up at that. “I do!”

“Great!” Ladybug mirrors the delight on his face. “What kind?”

“Any kind.”

“Then it’s settled.”

“What is?”

“Dinner and dessert, of course.” Ladybug practically bounces in her excitement. “I’ll bring quiche and cake, and you bring…questions.” Ladybug shrugs, suddenly shy in front of her partner. “This was fun,” she admits. “I like being able to share stuff with you.”

“Me too,” Chat Noir agrees.

She smiles softly and he does the same. “Meet you here tomorrow at ten?”

“I’ll see you then, my lady.”


	8. Kwami Swap

The earpieces are really only meant to be used for communicating while they’re separated, but of course Chat Noir needs to spend the non-fighting moments chattering away.

“I’m just saying,” he continues, “that Snake Bug isn’t even a little bit creative, Bugaboo. For one, you’re not even merging miraculous right now. You’re just a snake. There shouldn’t be ‘bug’ in your name.”

Snake Bug maintains her perch, watching out for the akuma that all the little Rat Noirs that are scurrying around over and underground for. She’s definitely going to need to reset once she studies the akuma a bit more, but she needs her little partners to draw it out first. She doesn’t bother suppressing her dopey grin when she considers how _adorable_ they are.

“And please stop calling me Rat Noir.”

Naturally, she takes his annoyance and latches on to it. “Oh, does Rat Boy not like his new name?”

“That’s even worse!”

“No, worse would be the akuma finding you before you find it.”

“I’m _looking_!” She can hear the way he rolls his eyes. “All I’m saying is that for the epitome of creation, your naming is lazy.”

“ _Focus_.”

“Do you think Marinette would mind if I used Multimouse? No one actually saw or heard of her, so it’s kind of a fresh name? And, like, I’d be paying homage to one of our better extras.”

Snake Bug snorts at the term to cover up a laugh. “Don’t call them extras.”

“Fine. _Spares_. Whatever.”

“Rat Noir!”

“Um, it’s Multimouse, thank you very much.”

“It’s _Chat Noir_. We’re only switching things up _right now_ for a reason. This is not a permanent thing.”

“It could be? In non-akuma situations like patrolling. You know, to make it look like we have more…auxiliaries.”

“That one was less offensive.” Snake Bug frowns in thought. “Also…huh, not a terrible idea?”

“Thanks, I tried.”

“We’ll discuss it _after_ you find the akuma.”


End file.
